From The Editor | August 22, 2013

Healthcare IT News For VARs — August 22, 2013

Business Solutions searched recent headlines for news of interest to VARs serving clients in the healthcare industry.

Growth Projected for EMR Market

ResearchMOZ has released TechNavio’s report on the hospital-based electronic medical record (EMR) market for 2012 to 2016. The report supports its forecast that the market should grow at a compound annual growth rate of 7.46 percent by the end of this timeframe. The report attributes a portion of projected growth to the increased demand for advanced health monitoring systems.

National Coordinator For Health IT Leaving Post

An eWeek article reports Dr. Farzad Mostashari will resign his position with HHS’ Office of the National Coordinator (ONC) for Health Information Technology. The national coordinator for health IT encourages healthcare organizations to adopt EHRs (electronic health records) and meet Meaningful Use (MU) objectives, qualifying for federal incentives. With MU stages 1 and 2 in place, the change in leadership is not expected to impact the program. A Healthcare IT News article explores who Mostashari’s replacement might be.

AMA, AHA Ask To Reconsider Timing Of Move To Stage 2 Meaningful Use

An Oncology Nurse Advisor article reports The AMA and the American Hospital Association are calling for flexibility in timing to move to stage 2 Meaningful Use. The associations cite concerns from healthcare providers and the vendors they are working with that few EHR products had met stage 2 certification requirements, and rushing to stage 2 could mean an increase in costs to implement systems or leaving small or rural healthcare providers without options.

Report States Interoperability Of Health IT Systems Improving

A ModernHealthcare.com article highlights the findings of the recent study by the ONC. The study reports progress in interoperability among health IT systems, helping to share electronic data among healthcare organizations. The study pointed out, however, that the advances are mostly among hospitals, with other providers having limited interoperability.

Doctors Can Add Patient Loyalty to EMR ROI

The EMR Patient Impact Study by Aeffect and 88 Brand PartnersResearch shows a connection between patient EMR use and their loyalty toward their physicians. A benefitspro.com article outlines the results of the study you might be able to share with your clients as they consider the ROI for their EMR systems. How do your products and services compare in cost? A Healthcare Technologies Online article discusses what common price tags might read.

ONC Guide Warns Healthcare Providers Of EHR Contract Risks

“EHR Contracts: Key Contract Terms for Users to Understand,” is available to your clients from the ONC to help them select EHR systems and to protect themselves from risks associated with the systems. A ModernHealthcare.com article says that the guide indicates “EHR vendors often try to shift liability to providers for problems caused by their systems through indemnification and ‘hold harmless’ language in their standard contracts, even if the harm was caused by a ‘bug’ in the vendor's software.”

20 Top EHR Software List Released

Capterra, an online service that connects buyers and sellers of business software, has released its Top 20 EHR Software list. eClinicalWorks ranked first, followed by McKesson, Practice Fusion, CureMD, and AllScripts.

Healthcare Professionals Comment On IT

A Health Data Management article by Katherine Redmond offers steps to reduce EHR clicks, information that might help you work with your next client when configuring that EHR system.

In an Information Week Healthcare article, Paul Cerrato comments on the importance of choosing the right EHR system — and the factors that might be getting in the way.

In her Government Health IT article, Marilyn Skrocki explores whether plagiarism detection software that verifies whether written work is original might be an option for combatting EHR upcoding.

Business Solutions searched recent headlines for news of interest to VARs serving clients in the healthcare industry.

Growth Projected for EMR MarketResearchMOZ has released TechNavio’s report on the hospital-based electronic medical record (EMR) market for 2012 to 2016. The report supports its forecast that the market should grow at a compound annual growth rate of 7.46 percent by the end of this timeframe. The report attributes a portion of projected growth to the increased demand for advanced health monitoring systems.National Coordinator For Health IT Leaving PostAn eWeek article reports Dr. Farzad Mostashari will resign his position with HHS’ Office of the National Coordinator (ONC) for Health Information Technology. The national coordinator for health IT encourages healthcare organizations to adopt EHRs (electronic health records) and meet Meaningful Use (MU) objectives, qualifying for federal incentives. With MU stages 1 and 2 in place, the change in leadership is not expected to impact the program. A Healthcare IT News article explores who Mostashari’s replacement might be. AMA, AHA Ask To Reconsider Timing Of Move To Stage 2 Meaningful UseAn Oncology Nurse Advisor article reports The AMA and the American Hospital Association are calling for flexibility in timing to move to stage 2 Meaningful Use. The associations cite concerns from healthcare providers and the vendors they are working with that few EHR products had met stage 2 certification requirements, and rushing to stage 2 could mean an increase in costs to implement systems or leaving small or rural healthcare providers without options.

Report States Interoperability Of Health IT Systems Improving

A ModernHealthcare.com article highlights the findings of the recent study by the ONC. The study reports progress in interoperability among health IT systems, helping to share electronic data among healthcare organizations. The study pointed out, however, that the advances are mostly among hospitals, with other providers having limited interoperability.

Doctors Can Add Patient Loyalty to EMR ROI

The EMR Patient Impact Study by Aeffect and 88 Brand PartnersResearch shows a connection between patient EMR use and their loyalty toward their physicians. A benefitspro.com article outlines the results of the study you might be able to share with your clients as they consider the ROI for their EMR systems. How do your products and services compare in cost? A Healthcare Technologies Online article discusses what common price tags might read.

ONC Guide Warns Healthcare Providers Of EHR Contract Risks

“EHR Contracts: Key Contract Terms for Users to Understand,” is available to your clients from the ONC to help them select EHR systems and to protect themselves from risks associated with the systems. A ModernHealthcare.com article says that the guide indicates “EHR vendors often try to shift liability to providers for problems caused by their systems through indemnification and ‘hold harmless’ language in their standard contracts, even if the harm was caused by a ‘bug’ in the vendor's software.”

20 Top EHR Software List Released

Capterra, an online service that connects buyers and sellers of business software, has released its Top 20 EHR Software list. eClinicalWorks ranked first, followed by McKesson, Practice Fusion, CureMD, and AllScripts.

Healthcare Professionals Comment On IT

A Health Data Management article by Katherine Redmond offers steps to reduce EHR clicks, information that might help you work with your next client when configuring that EHR system.

In an Information Week Healthcare article, Paul Cerrato comments on the importance of choosing the right EHR system — and the factors that might be getting in the way.

In her Government Health IT article, Marilyn Skrocki explores whether plagiarism detection software that verifies whether written work is original might be an option for combatting EHR upcoding.